Darting occurs in snowmobiles when the front end of a snowmobiles ski or carbide digs into a rut in the snow and causes the snowmobile ski to move in the direction of the rut. Often times, the direction of the rut will be in a different path than intended by the user of the snowmobile, which is what causes the snowmobile to “dart” off path.
Darting in an unintended path can be very dangerous as it can cause accidents with stationary objects such as a tree, or other snowmobiles in the vicinity, or simply cause the rider to fly off the snowmobile.
Further, some modern snowmobiles are capable of reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph in certain conditions. At such high speeds, if the snowmobile were to dart off path, it may be impossible for the driver to right the direction of the snowmobile before hitting an object, person, or snowmobile, which, at such high speeds, can cause catastrophic injuries to the snowmobiler or any bystanders in the vicinity.
Darting is a well-known problem in the snowmobile industry and a plethora of skis, carbides, studs, etc. have been brought to market that claim to prevent darting. However, replacing or upgrading the skis, carbides, studs, etc. of a snowmobile can be expensive and time consuming. Further, many of the parts brought to market only partially or temporarily fix the snowmobiles darting problems.
One component that has not been designed or manufactured in order to prevent darting is the bumpers that are placed between the skis and the spindles of the snowmobile.
The bumpers produced today all follow the specifications of the bumpers that were produced by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) and included as components of the snowmobile during the manufacturer of the snowmobile by the OEM's.
A list of some of the OEM's that have designed bumpers for the snowmobiles that they produce includes, but is not limited to, Arctic Cat, Ski-Doo, Polaris, Yamaha, etc.
In addition to the bumpers produced by the OEM's, there exists a secondary market for bumpers. Some of the manufacturers in the secondary bumper market includes Kimpex, Qualipieces, Roetin, Snow-Stuff, Snowtracker, USI, Stud Boy, and Woody's.
However, the bumpers being produced by the secondary market manufacturers are being made according to the same exact specifications of the OEM bumpers that they are intended to replace.
Thus, the snowmobile industry has not considered the important role the design of the bumper can play in preventing the darting of a snowmobile due to the bumper's interaction between both the ski and the spindle of the snowmobile.
As such, there is a need for a replacement bumper designed to interact with the ski and spindle of a snowmobile in order to prevent the darting of the snowmobile.
The invention provides a replacement bumper that is relatively cheap to produce, improves the steerability of the snowmobile by reducing darting or tracking, as well as a method for easily and efficiently replacing OEM bumpers with said replacement bumpers. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.